Over the land of the afterlife, Raina stood in the Quinjet, her eyes feverishly fixed on Allens—the powerful figure who had completely changed her destiny. She glanced at the HYDRA soldiers around her and suddenly felt even more detached from these misfits.
Raina, who always flaunted her uniqueness, could no longer stand being surrounded by ordinary people after witnessing Allens' overwhelming power.
"Bring me the serum."
Her cold voice cut through the cabin, leaving no room for refusal.
"Yes, ma'am!"
A low-ranking HYDRA officer snapped to attention, saluting frantically. Known within HYDRA as a "prophet," he reverently handed over ten silver-white metal cases to Raina.
With a sharp click, Raina opened one case. A gust of cold air spilled out, revealing five vials of serum glowing faint blue. The eerie light reflected across her face, finally pulling a smile from her lips.
"Is this the serum Mr. Allens personally developed for me? It's… beautiful."
Her eyes blurred with longing as she carefully lifted a syringe, fitted one vial into place, and prepared to inject herself.
"I will transcend… I will become an angel."
Her melodious, confident voice echoed through the Quinjet as she plunged the needle into her arm.
Instantly, her body began to transform. Her frame grew slimmer, her skin paler, her features more refined. At the same time, she felt her bones grow denser, her very structure strengthening.
Cracks popped through her body like firecrackers going off inside her.
Then silence.
Raina flexed her fingers, marveling at the overwhelming changes. Strength surged through her first—so much so that she felt like she could smash through the Quinjet's hull with a single punch. Her body was lighter, more graceful, more dangerous.
She didn't sprout wings, but her beauty had reached a level so captivating it was almost supernatural.
"Oh, Prophet… you're practically an angel now," the HYDRA officer muttered, his eyes glazed as he stared at her with raw admiration.
"Mr. Allens truly is my destiny."
Ignoring the man, Raina strode to the rear hatch of the Quinjet and ordered it opened. A gust of freezing air rushed in, but she felt no chill at all.
"This feeling… it's wonderful."
Spreading her arms like a lark in flight, Raina leapt into the open air. Wind screamed past her ears, but the smile on her face only widened.
With a thud, she landed behind Allens. The ground cracked beneath her feet, but despite falling from high altitude, she stood unscathed.
The serum, originally derived from Mr. Hyde, had been perfected by HYDRA scientists. Stripped of its side effects, it granted superhuman strength and steel-like durability. Raina had become something akin to the Patriot—Jeffrey Mace.
"Boom!"
In front of her, Allens drove his fist into the air. The shockwave exploded outward, invisible vibrations tearing the earth apart, splitting the ground into jagged cracks. Phil Coulson and his team were blown off their feet.
"Skye!"
Coulson stumbled toward Daisy Johnson's lifeless body, his face twisted with pain.
"Damn it, Fitz! Why haven't you pulled us out yet?!" he shouted into his comm.
"Sir, you've already been locked in," came Fitz's strained reply from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. His hands flew across the holographic controls, trying to reroute their escape.
"Boom!"
A deafening roar echoed above them.
Everyone—including Allens—looked skyward.
A brilliant yellow light blazed across the heavens, as bright as a second sun. Its terrifying presence pressed down upon every living creature for hundreds of kilometers, their very minds trembling.
"Fitz… is this your backup? Some new weapon you and Simmons cooked up?" Coulson asked in shock.
"Sir… don't joke. That energy reading is off the charts. Nothing on Earth could produce it."
Fitz and Simmons exchanged horrified looks. Even through the projection, the yellow light sent waves of hallucinations crashing into their minds.
"Damn… that's the Mind Stone."
Allens' face twisted in rage. The yellow brilliance, strong enough to shake his consciousness from afar, could only come from the scepter that housed the Mind Stone.
One of the six Infinity Stones—the gem of pure mental dominion.
Its light could invade the minds of all living beings, twisting and rewriting thought itself. Though its brilliance seemed physical, it ignored the material world, striking directly at the spirit.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Allens snarled, his fists hammering at the sky. Each blow shattered space like broken glass, waves of vibration roaring upward to clash against the descending psychic light.
"Chi-chi-chi!"
But as he feared, the Mind Stone's radiance was unaffected. Worse, it accelerated toward him, tearing through his defenses.
"Damn it! Rogers, you bastard—you dare cross me?!"
Allens cursed furiously, but even he was helpless before the Stone's overwhelming might. Of all his powers, only his psychokinesis could be considered remotely spiritual.
With a roar, his telekinesis erupted. The ground collapsed underfoot as he formed a massive invisible barrier, straining against the invading light.
"Boom!"
But the Stone's psychic waves pierced through effortlessly, drowning him in layer after layer of mental illusions.
Allens froze, his consciousness dragged into chaos as visions consumed him.
The golden light cascaded downward.
Phil Coulson and the others collapsed instantly, unconscious.
And Daisy Johnson—the dead Skye—was yanked from the void by the Mind Stone's radiance.
Her lifeless body stirred.
And she… came back to life.
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